Journal des sciences et de l'ingénierie des matériaux

Poly(Itaconate) Derivatives, at the Air-Water Interface: Case of Poly(Monobenzyl) and Poly(Dibenzyl) Itaconate

Abstract

Radic D, Gargallo L and Leiva A

The surface behaviors of monolayers of the poly(itaconate) derivatives, poly(dibenzyl itaconate) (PDBzI) and poly(monobenzyl itaconate) (PMBzI), at the air-water interface were investigated at 298 K on an aqueous subphase at pH 5.7 and 3.0. The monolayer characteristics of PDBzI and PMBzI were studied and compared in terms of surface pressure-area (-A) isotherms, surface compressional modulus-surface pressure (Cs-1-π) curves, static elasticity-surface concentration curves (-), hysteresis phenomena and phase images observed with a Brewster angle microscope (BAM.). The results showed that PMBzI and PDBzI gave rise to stable monolayers and that the isotherms presented pseudoplateau regions at different surface pressure values independent of pH. The PMBzl pseudoplateau region may because a change in the lateral packing of the chains. The PDBzl pseudoplateau region is attributed to a phase transition. The morphology of these monolayers was studied by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). The surface pressure was expressed in terms of the scaling laws as function of surface concentrations. It can be concluded that the air-water interface was a poor solvent for both studied polymers. The degree of hydrophobicity of the polymers was estimated by determining the surface energy values based on wettability measurements.